Eisenhower's funeral train

The thread on the Penn Central board re Robert F. Kennedy's funeral train, a thread laden with anecdotes, including one from me, inspired this thread...

In the early spring of 1969, as a seven-and-a-half-year-old, I watched (on TV) bits and pieces of my first presidential funeral, that of the 34th chief executive, Dwight D. Eisenhower. (I was alive for most of JFK's presidency, but don't remember it, his assassination, or his funeral).

I joined my then-newly-divorced mother (she has since remarried) at her girlfriend's in Chester, PA the night we watched Ike put on his funeral train for Abilene, KS at WUS.

By now you're probably wondering why I chose the B&O board for this thread. Simple. I assume the first leg of the train's journey to Ike's town of breeding was on the B&O (was it?). (The mods can move this thread where they want.)

Railroad.net's search engine didn't work too well for me when I searched for this topic, so that's the other reason I started this thread. If this has been discussed before on this site, please link the thread here.

That's my Eisenhower anecdote. Others are welcome.

motor

My recollection is that the train went west from Washington on the C&O, which, of course, at that time owned the B&O. C&O provided the baggage car for the coffin (C&O #314, now at the B&O Museum) and other equipment was provided by C&O and B&O.

Bob Withers' The President Travels by Train, a thoroughly-researched volume on this subject, also covers the funerals of Presidents whose funerary entourages were transported by rail, and of course, Ike's was documented. I believe there may still be copies available from the B&ORHS Company Store, but if not, it should be available from other railroad book retail sources.

hutton_switch, I was looking for personal remininces (sp), not a book.

Since Ike wasn't "a Kennedy", I assume none will be forthcoming.

motor

I was working for the company at the time. They started a string of cars in Washington for this train. As they brought in cars they got cleaned and painted. I remember them airing out the paint smell with a big fan at one end with the door open at the other. DDE was deathly ill for several weeks, and hence the cars sat there for quite a while.

My father, who lived in Indianapolis at the time, an ex US Army major from WWII and Korea, and a life long Republican, drove down to Washington, Indiana to pay his last respects to his Commander in Chief. From all accounts, there were quite some crowds along the route in towns in Indiana.